Cultural diversity: Census

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Information on country of birth, year of arrival, ancestry, language and religion

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Reference period
2021
Released
28/06/2022
Next release Unknown
First release

Key statistics

  • 27.6 per cent of the population were born overseas.
  • 61,860 international visitors were in Australia during the Census collection period. 
  • Top 5 languages used at home, other than English, were Mandarin (2.7 per cent), Arabic (1.4 per cent), Vietnamese (1.3 per cent), Cantonese (1.2 per cent) and Punjabi (0.9 per cent). 
  • Top 5 ancestries were English (33.0 per cent), Australian (29.9 per cent), Irish (9.5 per cent), Scottish (8.6 per cent) and Chinese (5.5 per cent). 
  • Top 5 religious affiliations were No religion (38.9 per cent), Catholic (20 per cent), Anglican (9.8 per cent), Islam (3.2 per cent) and Hinduism (2.7 per cent).

Top 5 countries of birth (excluding Australia)

Map of the world with top 5 countries of birth highlighted. 1 England, 2 India, 3 China (excludes SARs and Taiwan), 4 New Zealand, 5 Philippines
This image includes a map of the world with the top 5 countries of birth (excluding Australia) listed. 1 England, 2 India, 3 China (excludes SARs and Taiwan), 4 New Zealand, 5 Philippines

Based on place of usual residence. Excludes overseas visitors.

Source: Country of birth of person (BPLP)

Top 5 countries of birth (excluding Australia)(a), 2021 Census
CountryCensus population count
England927,490
India 673,352
China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)549,618
New Zealand530,492
Philippines293,892
  1. Based on place of usual residence. Excludes overseas visitors.

Source: Country of birth of person (BPLP)

Religious affiliation, Count of persons for 1996, 2016 and 2021(a)
 199620162021
Christian12,582,76412,201,60011,148,814
Other religions(b)652,2181,920,8352,538,587
No Religion(c)2,948,8887,040,7179,886,957
Total17,752,82923,401,89225,422,788
  1. Based on place of usual residence. Excludes overseas visitors.
  2. Other religions includes Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and other religions.
  3. No religion includes Secular Beliefs (e.g. Atheism) and Other Spiritual Beliefs (e.g. New Age). In 2016 the order of the response categories changed on the Census form, no religion was moved to the first response. This may result in higher responses reported for the 'No religion' category.

Source: Religious affiliation (RELP)

Census data stories and concepts

Articles and information papers that related to this topic include:

How Census data is used

Learn how Census data helps community groups, businesses and governments make important decisions.

Casey Cardinia Public Libraries uses Census data to develop library collections for Punjabi speakers

Key questions in 2021 Census

  • What is the person’s ancestry?
  • In which country was the person born? 
  • In what year did the person first arrive in Australia to live for one year or more? 
  • In which country was the person’s father born? 
  • In which country was the person’s mother born? 
  • Is the person an Australian citizen? 
  • Does the person use a language other than English at home? 
  • How well does the person speak English? 
  • What is the person's religion? 

The questions from the 2021 Census are output into variables. To see descriptions of the variables, including data use considerations, relevant to this topic see the 2021 Census dictionary: Cultural diversity.

Data downloads

Data table for Cultural diversity summary

Data files
Download xlsx [207.03 KB]

Data table for Census article - Religious affiliation in Australia

Data files
Download xlsx [69.11 KB]

Other relevant data downloads can be found on the following pages:

Snapshot of Australia

  • Country of birth of person by state and territory of usual residence - 2016 and 2021
  • Selected countries of birth of person by state and territory of usual residence - 2021
  • Religious affiliation - 1996, 2016 and 2021

Other ABS links

To access more 2021 Census data, see Search Census data or to build your own data sets, see Census data tools.

Explore other ABS data: 

Post release changes

15/11/2022 - Census article Religious affiliation in Australia

Table of Religious affiliation of recent migrants: Corrected count of Not Stated in Number of migrants column and proportions of Christianity, Other religions and No religious affiliation in Proportions of migrants column to reflect counts and proportions of migrants who arrived in Australia from 2017 to 10 August 2021. 

27/07/2022 - Census article Religious affiliation in Australia

Graph of Count of people with Christian affiliation in 2016 and 2021, age at 2016 and graph of Count of people reporting No religion in 2016 and 2021, age at 2016: Corrected labelling of 2016 data in both graphs to make 'age at 2016' accurate and updated data points for persons at age accordingly.  

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